Monthly Archives: June 2017

Developing nations to lose trillions of dollars due to child marriage by 2030–World Bank

2017-06-29

WASHINGTON-(MaraviPost)-The developing nations including Malawi, is projected to lose trillions of dollars by the year 2030 on account of child marriages, The Maravi Post has learnt.

This is in contrast to the end child marriage campaign being advocated by governments and civil societies.

In the World Bank and the International Center for Research for Women (ICRW) report titled, “Economic Impacts of Child Marriage,” released on Tuesday and made available to The Maravi Post, highlights the estimated benefits that would ensue if women had fewer children and later in life, and increase women’s expected earnings and household welfare.

According to the report, in the past 30 years, the prevalence of child marriage, or union before the age of 18, has decreased in many countries, but it still remains far too high.

The Bank discloses that in a set of 25 countries for which detailed analysis was conducted, at least one in three women marry before the age of 18; and one in five women have their first child before the age of 18.

Across the countries considered in the report, three in four early childbirths (children born to a mother younger than 18) are attributed to child marriages.

The report estimates that a girl marrying at 13 will have on average 26 percent more children over her lifetime than if she had married at 18 or later.

This means that ending child marriage would reduce the total fertility rates by 11 percent on average in those countries, leading to substantial reductions in population growth over time.

In Niger, for instance, the country with the highest prevalence of child marriage in the world, the population by 2030 could be five percent smaller, if child marriage and early childbirths, were eliminated.

The analysis suggests that by 2030, gains in annual welfare from lower population growth, could reach more than $500 billion annually.

In Uganda, the benefit from reduced fertility would be equivalent to $2.4 billion, while in Nepal this would be almost $1 billion.

The report confirms that keeping girls in school, is one of the best ways to avoid child marriage.

Each year of a secondary education, reduces the likelihood of marrying as a child before the age of 18 by five percentage points or more.

The World Bank’s Project Director and co-author of the report, Quentin Wodon, observes that child brides are often robbed of their rights to safety and security, to health and education, and to make their own life choices and decisions.

“Child marriage not only puts a stop to girls’ hopes and dreams. It also hampers efforts to end poverty and achieve economic growth and equity. Ending this practice is not only the morally right thing to do, but also the economically smart thing to do,” adds Wodon.

Echoing on the same, Suzanne Petroni, ICRW’s Project Director and co-author of the report, says that very day more than 41,000 girls marry before the age of 18.

She adds that poverty, gender inequality, poor access to quality education and to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services, and a lack of decent employment opportunities, help perpetuate child marriages and early childbirths.

“Ending child marriage would also reduce rates of under-five mortality and delayed physical development due to lack of appropriate nutrition (stunting). Globally, the estimated benefits of lower under-five mortality and malnutrition, could reach more than $90 billion annually by 2030.

“Another important benefit from ending child marriages, would be an increase in women’s expected earnings in the labor market. Due in large part to the impact of child marriage on education, women who marry as children have, on average, earnings that are nine percent lower than if they had married later. In Nigeria, this equals to $7.6 billion annually in lost earnings and productivity,” said Petroni.

The Economic Impacts of Child Marriage project was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and the Global Partnership for Education.

Doctors from Cairo University Medical School, in collaboration withInternational Andrology(IA), which is headquartered inLondon, are close to finding a treatment for erectile dysfunction that will restore the sex lives of millions of men.

This follows two small pilot studies undertaken earlier this year by IA andCairoUniversity with early findings published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

ProfessorHussein GhanemfromCairoUniversity and Mr. Amr Raheem, a leading specialist at International Andrology London confirmed exciting emerging results from the clinical trial:

· Nearly 50% of men who received a 50ml injection of Botox, (botulinum toxin type A, the active component of Botox) as opposed to a placebo recorded significant erectile satisfaction

· 25% were able to complete full penetrative sex

All men involved in the study were severe and end stage erectile dysfunction sufferers and had no ability to perform sexual intercourse. In such cases the only option currently available to them is a costly penile prosthesis (surgical silicone implant).

Mr. Amr Raheem, who is leading this ground-breaking research and recently presented early findings at two major international medical conferences inChinaand the US said: “Erectile Dysfunction affects half the male population at some point in their lives and causes misery for millions of men.

“It is believed that the smooth muscle relaxation and increased blood flow to a man’s penis from a Botox injection could help him to maintain an erection and may last for up to six months. This offers a lifeline to both men and their partners and avoids costly surgical procedures. We are optimistic about the full trial results and hope to be offering the treatment at International Andrology London in early 2018.”

Full results are available inSeptember 2017.

International Andrologyis a world leading organisation of highly qualified physicians and surgeons who have played major roles in the development and improvement of modern surgical techniques in the field of men’s sexual and reproductive health. It offers the most advanced treatments for male sexual dysfunction, sub-fertility, aesthetic and functional urogenital surgery successfully treating problems like erectile dysfunction, Peyronie’s disease (extreme curvature of the penis) and premature ejaculation.

Erectile dysfunction affects half the male population at some point in their lives. Traditional treatment options include drugs, shockwave therapy and penis implants costing on average in excess of £15,000.

The time bomb: why we need to invest in the youth

After Ghana had its independence on 6th March, 1957, the focus of our first President was to make Ghana an industrialized nation in Africa, but this dream had a challenge to address.

That was a matching human capital to support this vision. This was because our population by then was relatively small. At that stage we needed to expand our population to equate the industrial revolution.

Well, that was a great time to be a Ghanaian, with a rapidly growing economy, increasing number of health facilities, schools and lots of job opportunities.

Sixty years down the line and the coin has changed. Africa’s population is now described as youthful, being made up of about 60% of the total population being below the age of 25. Ghana is of no exception.

According to the 2010 population census, it is estimated that about 58.3 percent of the total population of Ghana is below the age of 25, and 38% of Ghana’s population is under age 15.

What it means is that in history this is the largest ever number of people for this particular age group and still counting.

According to McKinsey report titled “Africa at Work: Job creation and inclusive growth” it concluded that by 2035, Africa’s working population will be larger than that of any nation, including China or India.

This phenomenon will bring along economic transformation that will boost the economies of Ghana and Africa as a whole. This is what experts describe as Demographic dividend.

One may ask, what is this Demographic dividend that has been at the centre of recent summits of African Heads of states all about? Demographic dividend simply refers to accelerated economic growth that begins with changes in the age structure of a country’s population.

This is usually accompanied with low birth and mortality rates. What it means is that in the next 20 to 30 years this youthful population are going to be within the working population and be productive which will be translated to accelerated economic growth.

But interestingly, if this large young population is actually going to be productive for us to see that accelerated economic growth that we expect, then a lot more needs to be done to turn them into skilled working population.

Investments into the health and education of this young generation should be a major priority of all stakeholders. While it is widely acknowledged that such a large youth population, if turned into a skilled working population, can bring huge benefits to economies, at the same time if left unsupported and without jobs, a frustrated youth could turn to violence, some report warns. So the question is, what are the structures our governments are putting in place to ensure we achieve this demographic dividend in the next 30 years?

Ghana came up with the national youth policy in 2010, which served as a guide to government and all other stakeholders to include the youth in all developmental processes in order to ensure that they are not left out.

It also provided a conceptual framework that will see to it that adequate investments are made on their health which includes access to sexual and reproductive health information and services, education, skills development and growth.

Well, all these steps are efforts that need to be recognized, yet these policies, in majority of times remain only as paper documents that are not adhered to.

Many young people continuously face challenges accessing basic health services such family planning services, they are unable to access affordable and quality education, unable to have their skills developed, etc.

As a country with a large youthful population and also seeking to achieve demographic divided, we need to seriously invest in the youth through the provision of the needed environment and creation of opportunities that will ensure that young people grow to realize their full potential that will eventually translate into sustainable development.

Additional investments in reproductive health and family planning among the youth are needed for fertility levels to continue to decline to ensure a decline in fertility and dependency levels.

Sex ‘can boost BRAIN power in older people as scientists discover fascinating new link’

2017-06-22

The study, carried out by Coventry and Oxford Universities, found that over-50s who enjoyed regular romps showed improved cognitive functions.

It investigated the correlation between sex and brain function on 73 participants aged between 50 and 83.

The results found that those that had more sex tended to have better verbal fluency and ability to visually perceive objects and the spaces between them.

This included verbal fluency tests in which participants had a minute to name as many animals as possible, and then to say as many words beginning with F as they could.

They were then asked to take part in tests that determine their visual awareness, including copying a complex design and drawing a clock face from memory.

The stunning results revealed that those who fornicated more regularly were more fluent in speech and had better visual awareness.

The study expanded on previous research from February 2016, which found that older adults who were sexually active scored higher on cognitive tests than those that were not.

Dr Hayley Wright, from Coventry University’s Centre for Research in Psychology, Behaviour and Achievement, said: “We can only speculate whether this is driven by social or physical elements, but an area we would like to research further is the biological mechanisms that may influence this.

“Every time we do another piece of research we are getting a little bit closer to understanding why this association exists at all, what the underlying mechanisms are, and whether there is a ’cause and effect’ relationship between sexual activity and cognitive function in older people.

“People don’t like to think that older people have sex, but we need to challenge this conception at a societal level and look at what impact sexual activity can have on those aged 50 and over, beyond the known effects on sexual health and general wellbeing.”

With shockwave therapy, clinicians apply a probe to the penis to send energy from acoustic waves to different parts of the penis, theInternational Society for Sexual Medicineexplains. The hope is that this helps new blood vessels form, which would improve blood flow to the penis—vital to getting and maintaining an erection. Each session lasts about 15 to 20 minutes, and while you may feel some tingling, it usually doesn’t hurt. (For everything you need to keep your penis healthy for life, check outTheMen’s HealthGuide to Erectile Dysfunction.)

Shockwave therapy is still considered experimental, and while it’s approved in other countries, devices are still under review from the FDA here.

As theSexual Medicinestudy pointed out, more randomized trials on the treatment are necessary. While studies have shown that it appears to be safe, randomized trials on itseffectivenesshave been conflicting—some showing little improvement that may not make much of a clinical difference.

In the meantime, if you are having problems with your erections, your tried-and-true options are oral meds like Viagra or Cialis, or injectable drugs like alprostadil. These15 foods can help your penis perform better, too.

Taking charge of men’s health at middle age

2017-06-13

Men have achieved great accomplishments, like walking on the moon, inventing electricity and creating rock ‘n’ roll. But when it comes to staying on top of their health, their efforts lessen.

In fact, many men, especially at middle age, are unaware that simple screening tests and lifestyle changes can influence long-term health.

An annual well exam or physical provides a chance to discuss any health concerns or changes in family medical history.

Dr. Vincent Cantone, internist with Meritus Pediatric and Adult Medicine-North Hagerstown, gathers a lot of information just by watching and talking to his patients.

During a well exam, patients can expect a candid conversation about diet, exercise, alcohol and tobacco use, and screenings. As men start to grapple with declining testosterone levels, sexual health and depression are common topics, as well.

In addition to confidential chat, a routine medical exam with Cantone might include:

• Blood pressure and cholesterol screening. The frequency of the screenings is based on the patient’s age and medical history.

• Screening for diabetes depends upon the patient’s age, family medical history and weight.

• Colorectal cancer screening should start at age 50 or sooner for patients with a father, mother, brother or sister with a history of colorectal cancer. Cantone emphasizes that screening for colon cancer can prevent cancer.

Prostate screening warrants a discussion between physician and patient; however, the screening for men at average risk remains debatable.

• Heart-disease prevention includes a discussion about diet, exercise, family history and any signs of chest pain.

• Diet. Men are prone to weight gain around the midsection, so Cantone encourages his patients to eat less processed foods, less simple carbohydrates, and consume lean protein and leafy green vegetables.

• Exercise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults need two hours and 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise weekly and two or more days a week of strength training. To lose weight, Cantone recommends one hour of exercise five days a week.

• Updates on vaccines include the flu shot and the Tdap vaccine for pertussis, or whooping cough. Men 60 and older might need a shingles vaccine.

If you’re a man older than 40 and haven’t seen a physician in more than a year, it’s time to schedule a well visit with a doctor. Despite vices and fears of the unknown, well exams can get you thinking about preventing health problems, not treating them.

But you don’t need to exchange sexy pics daily to reap the benefits. Of the people who reported sending sexts weekly, 42 percent reported feeling happy with theirsexlife—and even 33 percent of people who sent a sext just a few times a month were happiest between the sheets, too.

The link? You don’t need to be in bed to turn her on. Anything you do that builds arousal (yes, even consensual sexting between two adults) counts asforeplay, which plays a big role in making sex feel better for her—which in turn, makes sex better for you.

“For some people, sexting conjures up images of a shamed Anthony Weiner, but for many others it conjures up an intoxicating mix of hormones that stimulate theirsex driveand adds to the intensity of their sexual encounters,” says marriage and family therapist Paul Hokemeyer, Ph.D.

“This is because our largest sex organ is our brain. By taking and sharing the most intimate parts of our bodies with our mate, we heighten our awareness of what we have to offer—and what there is to receive,” he adds.“ It’s an incredibly sensual process that focuses our minds to optimize our sexual pleasure.” (Here are 10moves that are even hotter than sexting.)

Men were more likely to send full nude or genital shots, while women focused on other assets, like theirbreastsand butt, the survey found.

Just keep in mind that she may not be into it until she can trust you. Nearly 60 percent of women surveyed said they’re most likely to sext either a long-term partner or their spouse—but 36 percent admit to sexting casual partners, too.

It’s not a bad idea to talk to her about it first, though. More than 40 percent of women have received an unwanted sext and 7 percent of American women have had a nude photo shared without their consent (that number more than doubled for European women), the survey found. Not cool, man.